Braley stresses small town roots in Grundy Center campaign stop

Congressman Bruce Braley (D-Waterloo) may have made his name as a trial lawyer in Waterloo, but his upbringing in the small town of Brooklyn, Iowa, played a central role during his campaign speech at Johnny Ray’s in Grundy Center on August 20.

The four-term representative of Iowa’s first congressional district is the presumptive Democratic nominee to run for the U.S. Senate seat of Tom Harkin (D-Cumming), who will step down after nearly 30 years as a Senator. A host of lesser-known Republicans are vying for the nomination to face Braley in the 2014 general election.

“I got my first job delivering papers for the Des Moines Tribune in third grade, and I’ve been working ever since,” he told the small crowd of about 15 supporters. “You name it, I’ve probably done it.”

Without the social safety net, which has factored prominently into recent debt ceiling debates, Braley said his family might not have been able to survive. His mother had been staying at home to raise Congressman Braley and his three siblings when his father fell thirty feet from a grain elevator and was seriously injured. His mother then returned to school and got a four-year teaching degree, and even at 83 years old she still serves as a substitute teacher at the BGM school district.

Read the full article in the Aug. 29 edition of the Register.